Solo Travel: Why I Highly Recommend It

I’ve always been pretty independent, but I never thought I would ever enjoy traveling solo, let alone move to another country on my own (More on that here: Emily in Tulum). In 2017, I had a conversation with a coworker and she convinced me that traveling solo for fun should be something I should start to seek out - thank you, Michelle! I wrote this post for those that haven’t considered traveling solo. I truly think everyone should do it at least once in your life. You may even get hooked like I did.

So how did I get to this point of being an advocate for solo travel? If you’ve seen my London List, you may know that I love London and have traveled there many times when I was visiting my boyfriend at the time. After we broke up and I was missing London I traveled there a few times on my own, but I never felt alone because I had made friends there over the years that I would make a point to see. London was me dipping my toe into solo travel, but with a security blanket. I recommend this if you haven’t done it before - go somewhere where you know at least one or two people (friends of friends count). Or maybe you know someone in that city that you met once, or someone you knew years ago but haven’t seen in a while. Before you go, ask friends if they have friends in that city that they can connect you with. Maybe your company has an office there and if that’s the case, go work from there for the day or at least setup coffee with a colleague. This way you can have a few social interactions lined up and when you’re there these people can give you recommendations on what to see and do. 

I truly embraced the notion of solo travel when I ventured over to Southeast Asia on my own in November and December 2019 for three weeks with a backpack. I had time off of work and decided to fly into Singapore for a day, over to Bali for about a week, 24 hours in Cambodia, 48 hours in Vietnam, and the remainder of the time was in various parts of Thailand. I had made a list of what I wanted to see and to be honest it was mostly places that had I had seen on Instagram or Pinterest. I had spent my first day in Bali with a driver who took me around to a number of different spots and ended the day with dinner by myself at a restaurant in Ubud. It was there, at Zest Ubud, where I met Hannah. I had just finished telling Hannah about all of the places I managed to fit in during the day and she replied with, “So you’re telling me you did every single tourist trap….” and that I was in Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali. I was doing it all wrong. She made me a list of everything I should be doing instead. She texted her friend to sign me up for a one-on-one Jamu-making class at 8am the next day (my first scooter ride was that next morning….with a complete stranger and I had no idea where we were headed). Hannah even took me on a tour that night after dinner through the alleys of Ubud, to her home, and even into the home of a really great masseuse. It was that night when I learned that solo travel and travel in general is way more than just seeing sights on your list. It’s about experiencing the culture to the fullest, and that is usually achieved by meeting people who will show you exactly how to do that. The rest of my trip through Asia was all about the people I met. I planned each day as I went based on what someone had told me the day before or 5 minutes earlier.  I need to finish my posts on this trip - it was truly a trip of a lifetime and if you ever get a few weeks off of work or between jobs, Southeast Asia is well worth a day of travel to get there. 

In October 2020 I booked a one-way trip to Tulum, Mexico. What was supposed to be a one-week, maybe three-week trip, turned into my home for seven whole months. The amount of people I met was unreal, and more than a few became very close friends. I made friends while working at different restaurants or beach clubs, while I was out to eat on my own, in airports, and while I was just going about my day. You have no idea who you will meet if you’re open to it. For example, a guy came up to me when I was working on a Friday afternoon and with a strong foreign accent asked me to borrow my computer to do something for work. Instead of completely ignoring him and being freaked out (like I would likely do in NY), I let him do his thing and then he asked me to join him and his friends for drinks at their table when I finished working. This one interaction/decision to just go with it changed my life. I met their group of like 20 friends (from Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, and various parts of Mexico…one of which is a Colombian pop star with two Latin Grammys) and spent the next two weeks exploring Tulum with part of this crew. A month later I traveled to Mexico City for the first time to visit them. Over the next few months I even became roommates with a few. Aside from the fun adventures and experiences, I feel so lucky that I made more than a few great friends that genuinely made an impact on my life.

The one drawback to traveling solo is the cost. It can get expensive when you aren’t splitting hotels, transportation, etc. Hostels are great if you’re looking for cheap accommodation and a sure way to meet people since they are usually filled with other solo travelers. It may be at one that you’ll meet friends to explore with and split future costs with. In Asia, I had stayed in hotels for the first half of my trip and then decided to switch to hostels because I wanted to make friends for some of my excursions. The app HostelWorld is great. You can find accommodation for $5 some places and the app has photos and reviews so you know exactly what you will get for that $5.

Solo travel not only allows you to do what you want, when you want, but it pushes you outside of your comfort zone and gives you different perspectives. For me, it’s something I am fully embracing right now since I am single and also have the ability to work from anywhere. I believe that everyone you meet has the ability to change how you think about certain things. It opens up your mind to shift your opinions and is one of the best ways to learn about the world and about yourself.  So, if you haven’t traveled solo yet, I’m encouraging you to do it, regardless if you are single or in a relationship. Book something now. Just go somewhere for a weekend and try it. You never know what you will learn or who you are going to meet.

xx Em